Trenton Doyle Hancock Busts Out

Trenton Doyle Hancock, The Former and the Ladder or Ascension and a Cinchin’, 2012. Acrylic and mixed media on canvas; 84 x 132 x 3 inches. Courtesy the artist and James Cohan Gallery

“I’m always going out and gathering different kinds of textures and materials to keep things from being so stagnant or inbred.” —Trenton Doyle Hancock

In this new Exclusive video, filmed in 2012 at James Cohan Gallery in New York City, Trenton Doyle Hancock discusses his large-scale collage The Former and the Ladder or Ascension and a Cinchin’ (2012). Made from materials that Hancock accumulated over a fifteen-year period, including scraps from some of his earlier artworks, it provides a condensed overview of his artistic development to-date. The artist, who recently moved away from his longtime Mounds and Vegans narrative, describes the central figure as busting out of shackles and “trying to get free of something.”

The Former and the Ladder or Ascension and a Cinchin’ is held in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts’ collection. Visit their website to see the collage in detail.

On November 7, Trenton Doyle Hancock will perform Devotion at New York University’s Grey Art Gallery as part of the exhibition Radical Presence. Tickets can be purchased online.

Exclusiveis supported, in part, by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; 21c Museum Hotel; and individual contributors.

Ian Forster is ART21's associate producer. He joined the staff in October 2009, first working on ART21 William Kentridge: Anything Is Possible and subsequently ART21 Art in the Twenty-First Century Season 6. In addition to his work on ART21′s broadcast programming for PBS, Forster oversees the Web video series ART21 Exclusive and ART21 Artist to Artist and is deeply involved with ART21 New York Close Up.